JAZZ IN THE TWIN CITIES ORAL HISTORY PROJECT:

The Jazz in the Twin Cities Oral History Project documents the lively jazz scene which has existed in Minneapolis and St. Paul since the early part of the twentieth century. The heyday of jazz in Minnesota was perhaps in the twenties and thirties, helped in part by St. Paul native F. Scott Fitzgerald's glamorous descriptions of flappers and speakeasies. The Arcade and the Marigold Ballrooms in Minneapolis, and the Coliseum and Oxford Ballrooms in St. Paul were popular dance spots. Many walk-a-flight Chinese-American restaurants offered small combos for dancing, while jazz became the rage at the University of Minnesota. Although black musicians were not welcome as members of the powerful Musician's Union during this era, the Musician's Rest in Minneapolis offered integrated jam sessions.

Jazz in the Twin Cities reflected national music trends, as Dixieland gave way to big band and swing, then to New Orleans and Chicago style jazz, and later to fusion. Although the musical styles have continued to evolve, jazz has remained an important force in the Twin Cities' music scene. The Jazz in the Twin Cities Oral History Project seeks to document the roles of some Minnesotans who have participated in this uniquely American art form.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Jazz in the Twin Cities Oral History Project. Oral history interviews of the Jazz in the Twin Cities Oral History Project. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: AV1989.137; AV2011.23

Processing Information:

Processed by: Jennifer Huebscher, October 2011

Catalog ID number: 990074287300104294

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Beigel was born in 1908 and grew up in Onawa, Iowa. He was a trumpet player who was a prominent jazz musician during the 1920s and 1930s. He played with Red Nichols at the Lowry Hotel, as well as the Marigold, and other ballrooms and cafes.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include how he started to play music; playing with big bands; playing with Red Nichols; Glenn Miller; setting up his own band; improvisation; Twin Cities as a good music town; Chief McElroy; rehearsal; and Hal Kemp and the technique of triple tonguing.

Interviewed by: Carl Warmington.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Buie was born in Red Springs, North Carolina in 1901. His participation in jazz bands began in Mayo, Florida, where at fifteen he organized a high school jazz band. He continued to organize and play in bands while attending colleges in Florida, North Carolina, and Kentucky. Leaving school, he joined the Carolina Club Band, playing an engagement in England and aboard an ocean liner. He also formed a cooperative band and played with Slatz Randall Band from 1926 to 1937, including an engagement at the Radisson Hotel Flame Room in Minneapolis in 1928 and 1929. His career included engagements with many prominent jazz musicians and recording companies throughout the United States.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include organizing high school and college jazz bands; performing in England and on an ocean liner; the Carolina Club Band; the Slatz Randall Band; bookings during the Depression; the Radisson Hotel Flame Room; recordings and recording companies; the "swing" era; improvisation; playing techniques; and memories of Hal Kemp, Slatz Randall, Joe Roberts, Yank Lawson, and other jazz musicians.

Interviewed by: Carl Warmington.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Hughes was born in 1922 in St. Paul, Minnesota, and began playing the clarinet at age 11. After serving in the Army during World War II, he attended the Minneapolis College of Music, studying, conducting, arranging, and composing. He is one of the few post war musicians to make a living playing jazz music and not have to work a day job.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include his early life; musical upbringing; playing in the army band; being in the service and World War II; becoming a full time musician; meeting and playing with his first wife; playing around the Twin Cities; jazz influences, including the radio; racial elements that held him back; having to maintain discipline to make it; the musicians union; venues in the Twin Cities from the 1940s through the 1970s; and the evolution of the jazz community.

Interviewed by: Margaret A. Robertson.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Landry, a violinist, traveled west to Minneapolis with his parents in 1903. They were booked by the University Extension Division as a family and played the Lyceum, the Chautauqua circuit, and elsewhere in Minnesota, including the Iron Range. He served in the Marines before returning to Minnesota where he put together Art Landry's Symphonic Sextet at the Curtis Hotel. After making a record for Victor Recordings, his band traveled on the vaudeville circuit and played in larger cities around the United States before getting picked up by the Ziegfield Follies. After that he traveled more, headlining many performances and backing up performers like Al Jolson. He weathered the Depression by adjusting his business model and also learned the clarinet and saxophone.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include the Landry Family Orchestra; being a concert violinist; starting his own orchestra; Art Landry's Symphonic Sextet; negative connotations of the word jazz; auditioning for Mr. Mellany; getting reviewed in Variety; signing a record deal and recording; performing on the radio; booking bands and venues; touring and traveling in Canada, the United States, and Mexico; National American Musicians Union; paying the musicians; stage sets; playing with Al Jolson; barnstorming; playing with Paul Whiteman; vaudeville acts; The Call of the North Orchestra; and recording studios.

Interviewed by: Carl Warmington.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: James "Jimmy" Robb was raised in a very musical family. He played primarily guitar after studying music at the MacPhail School of Music and later at Carleton College. Robb worked in Minneapolis as a freelance guitarist playing with such orchestras as Lou Breese, Jack Malerich, Norby Mulligan, Dick Long, Art Goldberg, and WCCO. He also organized his own orchestra, Jimmy Robb's Orchestra playing at the Minneapolis Athletic Club and the Minikahda Club.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include his early life; growing up in a musical family; being a self-taught musician; playing in non jazz bands and starting to play jazz; buying his band; booking Twin Cities jobs; popular styles that were often requested such as Dixieland; drinking and playing; playing during the Depression; the members of his band; recording for commercials; jam sessions; Battle of Music competitions; directing the band; head arrangements; and Harlan Ebert.

Interviewed by: Carl Warmington.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Roberts grew up in Albion, Nebraska. He began playing the clarinet with a local band before going on the road with a band in 1922. He first came to Minneapolis in 1924 when he played with Bill Ackerman's Band at the Marigold Ballroom. He played with a variety of musicians including George Osborne, Les Beigel, Glenn Miller, and Jake Heidrich.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include his first introduction to jazz music; early days playing with bands; moving to Minneapolis; Musician's Rest; improvisation; playing with George Osborne, Glenn Miller, and others; musician's union; campus bands; the Depression; Jake Heidrich; drugs and alcohol during the 1920s and 1930s; the alter days of his musical career; George Barton; Red Dougherty; and society bands.

Interviewed by: Carl Warmington.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Robison was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1906.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include how his interest in music developed; musical influences; first job with Keogh Cleason; the Marigold Ballroom; playing with traveling bands; Hap Kastner; drinking, drugs, and smoking during Prohibition; campus bands; Art Goldberg; improvisation; composing songs; big bands that came to the Twin Cities; "Battles of Music"; playing for the sororities; Minneapolis Musician's Clubhouse; Sammy Scheiner; the club scene; clubs where black bands played; and retirement.

Interviewed by: Carl Warmington.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Runyon was born in Letts, Iowa, in 1903. After graduating from high school, he joined the Air Service. While serving in the Air Service in Rantoul, Illinois, he began playing with a band. He played with bands at state fairs and carnivals before playing with the George Smith Steamboat Band at the Marigold in Minneapolis. In 1927 he decided to make his home in Minneapolis. He played with numerous bands at nightclubs in the Twin Cities over the years.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include how he became involved with music; playing music in the Air Service; being a musician at state fairs and carnivals; playing with Little Benny's; The George Smith Steamboat Band and playing at the Marigold; moving to Minneapolis; playing with Red Clark; playing at the Castle Royal in St. Paul; smoking, drinking, and drugs; big bands playing arrangements versus bands that improvised; improvisation; Red Maddock; playing with Doc Evans; playing with Harry Blons; concert at the Walker Art Institute; Red Dougherty and the Mendota jazz spot; the appeal of Dixieland music; the Twin Cities as music towns; the Minneapolis and St. Paul Musician's Unions; musical involvement since retiring; playing on New Year's Eve in Fargo, North Dakota; and Les Beigel.

Interviewed by: Carl Warmington.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Bands (Music) -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.

Jazz -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.

Jazz musicians -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.

Jazz -- Social aspects -- Minnesota.

Music -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.

Persons:

Beigel, Les, interviewee.

Buie, Craig, interviewee.

Hughes, Percy, interviewee.

Landry, Art, interviewee.

Robb, James A. (James Alexander), 1914-, interviewee.

Roberts, Frankie, interviewee.

Robertson, Margaret, interviewer.

Robison, Roy, interviewee.

Runyon, Hal, interviewee.

Warmington, Carl, interviewer.

Document Types:

Interviews.

Oral histories (document genres)

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